Author Interview - Erica Spiller

How did you become a writer? I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. Sometime in grade school, I “published” my first short story which the school made into a small hard copy. My grandmother put it on display in her living room and never took it down. As a kid, I constantly wrote for fun. I wrote my first screenplay in middle school, and as I got a little older, I started writing music and lyrics for songs. I’ve always loved playing with genre, and in college I wrote, published, produced, and won awards for short stories, full-length plays, and one-acts. It was during undergrad that I realized I wanted to be a writer, so I continued to study and practice the craft in grad school and still do today. 

What inspires you to write? In general, I simply need to write. Writing itself inspires me. Writing makes me happy, it allows me to keep discovering and learning, and it affords me the opportunity to offer stories to others. In particular, as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I grew up without characters who were like me, and everyone deserves to see themselves reflected in the stories they read. 

How do you develop your plot and characters? I am a planner. Once I have a general idea, I’ll sit down and outline the entire story. It’s much easier for me to write when I know where I’m going, and it also prevents as many major revisions. I try to write myself into as few corners as possible. As far as characters are concerned, I sometimes treat my protagonists differently than my supporting characters. When I create my lead characters, I name them, imagine what they look like, pin down their personalities, their passions, their values, and their flaws. Sometimes I will loosely base them on a historical figure that I think could fit particularly well in a role. When it comes to supporting characters, I might design them in a way that it provides contrast to or supplements a given protagonist. Sometimes I also write them with a pretty loose shell in mind, focusing on one characteristic or trait I need from them. From there, I might let the character respond to the situations in the story and let that shape the character further. It can be fun to let characters discover themselves in a way. 

Could you share some of your challenges as a writer? I often have a tough time articulating my instincts. I’ll have this tickle of recognition that I need to do something or fix something, but I can’t quite capture what it is in the moment. Then a beta reader or someone else will catch it and articulate it, and it will all come together for me. I’m still trying to figure out how to capture those little jolts of instinct earlier. One of the other challenges is simply seeing the forest through the trees. Obviously novels are huge, and it’s so easy to get mixed up or forget something along the way. For me, balancing writing with a family and a career, I often must write in more frequent, smaller bursts rather than longer, focused stretches. That can increase the risk of losing track of a detail, so I try to be intentional about keeping notes and revisiting materials as much as I can before jumping back in.  

Tell me about your protagonist. What's your favorite trait and/or weakness? Frances is on the verge of adulthood, which is a hard enough time for anyone, but even more so for the gender nonconforming teen living under the whole town’s oppressive gaze in rural Illinois. They finally manage to make their way to Chicago and find a semi-comfortable work position. Unfortunately, Frances is found, returned home, and ultimately sent to a newly opened Girls Reform School. Two of Frances’s best traits are that they are committed to living their truth and that they embrace diversity among others as well. On the other hand, Frances’s impulsivity and inability to trust others continually gets them in trouble.

How does your antagonist create conflict? Reverend Winthrop is a threat to anyone even near his orbit and puts people at risk almost everywhere he goes. He has endless energy for anything he thinks will increase his power and wealth, which puts individuals, families, business owners, and even the law in his crosshairs.

What are your current/future projects? I’m currently working on revising another manuscript in LGBTQ+ upmarket fiction. Once that one is ready for submission as well, I have another story idea that I’ve started outlining, which will return me to the historical fiction genre. 

Do you have a routine you follow when writing? I don’t know that I have so much of a routine as I rely on discipline. I try to be mindful of what time I have (or don’t have) on the horizon and plan accordingly. I essentially have two approaches. Sometimes I take PTO or give myself a little writing retreat so I can focus on making considerable progress or completing major revisions. If it doesn’t work out to take some time off, I will commit to writing in smaller chunks over a period of time and hold myself accountable to it. I set goals, and I know how disappointed I’ll be in myself if I miss them. So I try not to miss them.

If you could go back in time and give yourself advice, what would it be? In general, I like to think things work out as they’re meant to, assuming you put in the time, effort, and energy to “create your luck.” That said, if given the chance, I might encourage myself to learn more and get engaged more deeply earlier than I did. It took me awhile to really know and understand that I needed to write. If I could have articulated that earlier, it’s possible I might have set things in motion a bit sooner.  

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers? Devour what you love. Read everything, write as often as you can, find friends that share your passion and engage with them in the craft, learn from the experts, and just absolutely immerse yourself as much as you realistically can. Beyond that, don’t give up. In my experience, writing, and really any art form, comes with a lot of rejection. Learn from the feedback and keep going. 

What is your preferred method for readers to get in touch with you? Readers can contact me via my website at ericaspiller.com or follow me on X @spillerica.